crossposted at My Left Wing
It was a winter day like any other in the nation's capital.
The wind was blowing, adding to the already considerable chill outside. Inside the House of Representatives chamber, the amount of hot air being spewed warmed the temperature considerably. From the back of the chamber, a tall, lank man rose to speak. He was privately disdained by many of the Northeast bluebloods and Southern aristocrats. Partly this was for his politics, which aligned him with the minority. But mostly it was because of his appearance and manner. It was far too "Western" to suit the tastes of the highborn.
The force of the Illinois representative's words, however, could not be so easily dismissed or sniffed away.
The country was embroiled in a war that had deeply split not only the nation's populace but also its Congress. Proponents of the war proclaimed it was a just war of liberation, fought for a noble cause. Opponents decried it as an unjust war of empire, a classic example of international bullying...at best.
Though the Illinois rep and his friends in the minority had voted to appropriate whatever money the Commander-in-Chief had requested to fund the war effort, they were by no means willing to let him off the hook. This was made emphatically clear during the course of the tall man's speech. Referring to the President, he had only condemnation, if not outright ridicule.
"I more than suspect already that he is deeply conscious of being in the wrong; that he feels the blood of this war, like the blood of Abel, is crying to heaven against him; that originally having some strong motive...to involve the two countries in a war, and trusting to escape scrutiny by fixing the public gaze upon the exceeding brightness of military glory...he plunged into it and has swept on and on, till, disappointed in his calculation...he now finds himself he knows not where....His mind, tasked beyond its power, is running hither and thither, like some tortured creature on a burning surface, finding no position on which it can settle down and be at ease....He is a bewildered, confounded, and miserably perplexed man. God grant he may be able to show there is something about his conscience more painful than all its mental perplexity!"
Who made this fiery speech, condeming Bush and his insane Iraq adventure? Rahm Emanuel? Jesse Jackson, Jr.?
No. None of the above. As you've probably figured out by now, it was made by Abraham Lincoln in condemnation of James K. Polk and the Mexican War. Such is the universality of Lincoln.
Perhaps more accurately, it also demonstrates the aptness of the belief that "everything old is new again." Or, if you prefer, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Such a speech would not be out of place by any Democrat today nor would it be out of place in any liberal blog entry. Really, it's a frighteningly accurate and apropos description of Bush and Iraq today, unknowingly and unsuspectingly rendered more than 150 years before the current quagmire started.
Fast forward fifteen years to December 1862 when Lincoln is president. Modern Republicans like to compare Bush to Lincoln and imply the two are equally great men. Liberals and other sensible folks, of course, hurt their ribs laughing at such an implication, countering that the two men could not possibly be more different.
But what if...what if maybe, just maybe...modern day wingnuts are right? What if Bush and Lincoln are two peas in a pod?
Consider the fact that for much of his Presidency, Lincoln was terribly unpopular. Though no polling existed then, a study of the record makes it rather clear that nearly everybody thought the ship of state was in the hands of the wrong man.
For instance:
"You ask not, 'Can this man carry the nation through its terrible struggles?' but 'Can the nation carry this man through them and not perish in the attempt?' He is thickheaded; he is ignorant...and obstinate as a mule."
--Orestes Brownson
"You cannot change the President's character or conduct. He remained long enough in Springfield, surrounded by toadies and office-seekers, to persuade himself that he was specially chose by the Almighty for this crisis, and well chose. This conceit has never yet been beaten out of him, and until it is, no human wisdom can be of much avail."
--William Pitt Fessenden
If I were to change "Springfield" to "Crawford" in the second quote and tell you that they were both about Bush and had been said by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, you wouldn't bat an eyelash.
Consider also the story of a group of men coming to Lincoln one day to protest his conduct of the war. He heard them out and then, through his usual procedure of telling a metaphorical story, told them to shut up and support the government regardless of what it did. As we all know, Bush has basically done that everyday since taking office.
So...wow. Maybe the right-wingers have a point? Maybe Bush and Lincoln are extremely similar?
Of course not. I could expend thousands of words expounding on the multitude of differences between the two and why Lincoln is undoubtedly the greater man. But I've already taken up enough of your time. Allow me to sum it up by continuing the story of Lincoln and the men who came to harangue him.
Recounting the incident to a friend, Lincoln griped about how annoying it all was, but then added that despite their hostility and criticsm, "The latchstring is out and they have the right to come here and preach to me."
Lincoln realized that his political opponents were still part of the people's government and as such had the right to air their grievances to him. Even when acting in a manner that was most unbecoming to him--and unquestionably telling the men that, in essence, protesting the war's conduct only aided the enemy was far beneath the man--he still never lost sight of the fact that he was a public servant. No matter what, Lincoln never failed to remember that the presidency is greater than one man.
Contrast that with the man who treats the country like his own personal piggy bank.
Contrast that with the fellow who acts only like the head of the Republican Party and not the chief public servant of the United States and ALL its citizens.
Contrast that with the person whose actions conclusively demonstrate he truly believes he is above the law.
Contrast that with the Bubble Boy who will allow nothing inside his artifical reality except the private wiretaps of citizens which he authorized so as to give himself plenty of jackoff material.
What have we done to fall so far?
Wait, don't tell me. That's a whole other diary.